Every
Time I Hear That SongSummer tunes that bring
back special summer memoriesBy Jennifer Schulkind

It
was last July, and the sun was starting to heat up my friend’s
relationship with her boyfriend. They spent many summer nights
talking and kissing at the docks near their houses. One night
she did a little advance planning and brought a blanket and
her favorite Dave Matthews Band CD. A few hours into the night,
her CD player malfunctioned and began to repeat the same song,
“Lover Lay Down.” She accepted the defect as a sign and let
the music take over. She will never forget that summer, and
she continues to remind me of that night whenever we hear
the song.

A
song can become forever linked to the memories of past summers,
and can have the power to re-create the warmth of the sun
on our faces even in the midst of a winter snowstorm. The
situation in which a song is first heard—during a summer sunset,
a first kiss, or when you’re just having a good time with
friends—can make an ordinary song special.

What can be more fun then peeling off suffocating clothing
and jumping into some cool water? R.E.M.’s “Nightswimming”
can certainly help invoke the memories of skinny-dips past
and prepare you for some late-night fun this summer. One friend
loves this song particularly because it talks “about September
coming soon and how important it is to enjoy the summer before
it fades.” She listens to it regularly every summer, and (perhaps
as a direct result) has trouble staying clothed on hot summer
nights. The fleeting summer months are hard to hold on to,
and any song that reminds us to take advantage of each beautiful
day is a perfect candidate for a great summer tune.

Slightly older acquaintances conjured up summer recollections
from their youth, naming songs by bands like the Beach Boys,
or my dad’s personal favorite, “Summer in the City” by the
Lovin’ Spoonful (who are they, anyway?). For him, the song
is a reminder of his youth and the summer days spent on crowded
Long Island beaches. Although these selections are a little
outdated, they had the right idea; it’s all about having fun.

Driving around—listening to music with the windows down, tanning
just your left arm ’cause it’s hanging out the window—is a
timeless summer activity. Echo and the Bunnymen’s “The Cutter”
reminds a friend of doing just that. “I moved to Albany and
I had my mom’s Dodge Omni to spin around in. My best friend
and I would drive to Lark Street; the best thing was driving
down Lark Street listening to music.”

Another friend will always associate Bob Marley’s “Lively
Up Yourself” with driving around in his new car that he was
able to buy after winning $500 in a Super Bowl pool. The car
came with a Bob Marley tape, which was by no means his favorite.
He was forced to listen to the tape’s four live songs repeatedly
when it got jammed in the player. “Over the course of the
summer, I began to associate it with my first car, my sunroof
and driving around in the summer.”

Teenage antics are often highlighted by appropriate and encouraging
music that will forever conjure up memories of reckless summer
days. “As soon as I heard the words ‘summer songs,’” says
a coworker, “the rubber-ball bass lines of Joe Walsh’s “Life’s
Been Good” bounced into my head. The music, the lyrics, the
whole thing is pretty stupid, but it was a hit in the summer
of ’78 and played nonstop during a memorable teenage Cape
Cod vacation with friends. And its nonchalant goofiness fit
our exploits that week—which is about all you need to know
about them.”

Dave Matthews Band reminds many of my friends of summer. “Stay”
features the lyrics: “We were just wasting time/Let the hours
roll by/Doing nothing for the fun/A little taste of the good
life.” There’s nothing like a song that encourages us to relax
and enjoy summer’s lazy days.